U.S. citizen in Ghana tests negative for Ebola

ACCRA (Reuters) - A U.S. citizen suspected of having Ebola
because he fell ill after visiting West African states battling
the disease has tested negative, a senior Ministry of Health
official told Reuters on Monday.

The man, who has not been named, is in quarantine at Nyaho
clinic in Accra and the blood tests were conducted at Noguchi
Memorial Institute of Medical Research in the city.

"It is negative," Badu Sarkodie, head of disease
surveillance at the Ghana Health Service, told Reuters, adding
that further tests would be conducted.

Health officials have called for regional action to halt the
world's deadliest outbreak of the disease, which has spread
across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, killing at least 467
people since February.

The highly contagious Ebola virus causes fever, vomiting,
bleeding and diarrhea and kills up to 90 percent of those it
infects. It is transmitted through contact with blood or other
fluids.

A previous suspected Ebola case in Ghana also tested
negative in April.